Copyright, Plagiarism, Fair Use, & Public Domain

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Copyright, Fair Use, Public Domain, and Plagiarism

Please note: This guide is only designed to provide information and resources about copyright, fair use, and public domain, and should not be taken as legal advice.

 

Copyright

Copyright refers to the legal right granting the producer of creative or intellectual property exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and produce derivatives of their work. Copyright law covers original works in a fixed tangible medium. This means that works such as books, plays, music, sculptures, movies, software, sound recordings, and architectural works are all covered under copyright, while phrases, ideas, concepts, titles, symbols, and anything not recorded in a tangible format are not covered under copyright. In addition, all works produced by the US Government are exempt from copyright. 
 
Saint Elizabeth University identifies the importance of following copyright laws in the following terms:
 
"Violating copyright laws and/or using the work of others via computer or other technological means without express permission and/or clear attribution demonstrates disrespect for the creative work and personal expression of others. Although electronic and/or magnetic information is easily produced, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, trade secret violations, and copyright violations are illegal (1987 EDUCOM and AADAPSO and copyright laws). Most computer and audio/video software is protected by copyright laws. It is incumbent upon the user to be familiar with the license agreement between the editor or publisher and the purchaser." (Saint Elizabeth University Academic Integrity Policy, 2024-2025).
 
Getting permission to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material from the original author often requires a cost, and may be restricted to a specific time frame, purpose or means of distribution. However, you can still reference copyrighted works in your research under the guidelines of Fair Use (see below).
 
The following guides have more information on copyright law and how it applies:
 
 
 

Fair Use

Fair use allows for the use of copyrighted works for specific purposes, such as teaching, research, scholarship, criticism, commentary, and news reporting. In such instances permission may not be needed, but credit should always be given to the original author or creator of the work. If you do not give credit where it is due, you are likely plagiarizing (see below). There are four factors that determine whether the use of a work falls under fair use, which are the purpose of the use, the nature of the original work, the amount of the work used, and the effect of the use on the potential market or value of the original work. The Columbia University Fair Use Checklist can help you determine whether your use of a work falls under fair use or not.
 
Here are some additional links to help you understand Fair Use in the context of teaching and research:
 
 
 

Public Domain

Public Domain refers to creative work that is not protected by copyright and may be freely used by everyone. It will never be "owned" by anyone. The reasons that a work would not be protected include:
 
  1. The term of copyright for the work has expired
  2. The author failed to satisfy formalities to establish the copyright (only applicable before 1978)
  3. The author chose to place the work in public domain
  4. The work is a product of the U.S. Government
  5. Copyright law does not apply to the work
Current copyright law says that published works will enter public domain 70 years after the death of the author. However, if the work is of corporate authorship, the work will enter public domain 95 years after publication or 120 years after creation (whichever expires first). Anything published before 1930 is now in the public domain, but you will have to check for anything published after that. Never assume that anything is in the public domain unless that status is specifically stated with the work. Even if a work is in the public domain, you will still need to cite your sources to avoid plagiarizing (see below).
 
See these guides for more information on public domain:
 
 
 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is when you say or imply that you are the author or creator of a work when you are not. As defined in the University's Student Handbook,
 
"Plagiarism includes: using all or part of another student's paper, journal, lab report, computer program or file; buying a paper, or trading goods or services for a paper; and using ideas, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or pages from an article, essay, book, newspaper, magazine, or any other reference source without properly citing that source, either deliberately or through neglect, including the unauthorized use of Large Language Models (LLM)" (Saint Elizabeth University Academic Integrity Policy, 2024-2025).
 
All instances of plagiarism, however small, are violations of academic integrity. Even if a work is in the public domain or not covered under copyright law, you should always cite your sources. Consequences for plagiarism could include redoing the assignment, failing the assignment, failing the course, and suspension or dismissal from St. Elizabeth University.
 
Plagerism and Copyright module from PrepStep (must be logged in)